The 'Sing' hitmaker feels there is nothing wrong with liking pop acts and he doesn't understand why anyone would criticise their music because it has a big influence on young people and popular culture.

During a new interview with Radio.com, he said: ''Pop (and, especially, hip-hop) producers are as important as rock auteurs, Beyoncé is as worthy of serious consideration as Bruce Springsteen, and ascribing shame to pop pleasure is itself a shameful act.

''I'd say pop music is still the number one music that people listen to and has been for the past 70 years, 80 years -- however many years. As long as it's popular, it's pop music I guess.''

Earlier this month, the 23-year-old star, who is about to release his new album 'x', also revealed he plans to write with One Direction again after the success of his song 'Little Things' but insists he wouldn't want to deal with them all at the same time.

He said: ''I don't know what I could do with five people in a room. Like, if it was one on one, if I wrote five different songs, one with each of them, then it would work, but I'm a control freak when it comes to writing songs and too many cooks doesn't work.

''I'd want it to go in a certain direction - no pun intended - and, like, everyone has an opinion and I wouldn't want it dragged all those different ways. So yes, I would work with each of them individually, but not five of them at once.''